Stapling machines



P. SINGERMAN E AL 3,330,640

April 30, 1968 STAPLING MACHINES Filed Oct. 21, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 m m P FIGJZ PAUL SINGER/M NETA 2 INV NTOR. L

FIG. 7

United States Patent ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An electromechanical stapler is disclosed for automatically stapling sheets of paper together. When the operator inserts the sheets to be stapled, the edge thereof triggers a switch and the paper is stapled without anything further being required of the operator. The stapler is ready for further use as soon as the stapled paper is removed therefrom.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to present a new and novel stapling machine which works automatically and is capable of employing a number of staple packs in superimposed arrangement so that the machine need not be recharged with a staple pack when one of them is dispensed.

Another object is to provide an electrically driven stapling machine wherein several rows of staple packs can be charged in the machine for the purpose of avoiding recharging at short intervals.

Still another of the objects is to provide a stapling machine wherein only a portion of a general cover need be momentarily shifted in order to charge the machine with staples.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent upon perusal of the specification and the drawings.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 shows in plan view the entire device with cover in place;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view thereof;

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the cover inverted and enlarged, with a portion thereof broken away;

FIG. 5 is a plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the interior portion of the device with the cover entirely removed;

FIG. 6 is a side elevational view thereof on the same scale;

FIG. 7 is a front elevational view thereof on the same scale;

FIG. 8 is a planview of a portion of the device on still a larger scale, but with overlying parts removed for the sake of clearness;

FIG. 9 is a portion of the device taken substantially along the line 9-9 of FIG. 6, but on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 10 is a portion of the device taken substantially along the line 10-10 of FIG. 5, but shown on an enlarged scale;

FIG. 11 is a schematic showing of the electrical circuit employed in the device as illustrated;

FIG. 12 is an elevational view of the cam means for opening the switch to avoid continuous operation of the machine when the thing to be stapled is left in the machine.

Now, with reference to the drawings wherein like numerals indicate the same parts of the device, a general support base or plate 1 is shown having a felt pad 2 for the obvious purpose of avoiding scratches upon table and furniture tops. Integral with this base are the upstanding side flanges 3, 4, 5 and 6 which are arranged to provide 3,380,640 Patented Apr. 30, 1968 the boss portions 7, 8 and 9 with bores therein to allow screws to pass therethrough. The screws to make threaded connection with alined bosses in the cover or lid means 70 of the device to be explained later.

Secured in place upon the base, such as by screws, etc. there are the following principal parts; an electric motor 11, an electric relay 12, a gear reduction unit 13, microswitches 14 and 15, and a stapler unit or device 16.

The stapler unit may be of any type suitable for the intended purposes and which can be found on the market; such a unit needing but little change to adapt it for use in this invention. Such a stapler unit generally includes a die plate 17, note FIG. 8, having the usual die depression 18 for turning the ends of staples toward each other beneath the paper or other thing being fastened together. To suit the aims of this invention, this die plate has a V-cut indicated at 19 to accommodate an upstanding switch-arm, rod, or Wire-like means 20. An extension portion thereof 21 extends into the micro-switch 15 and is positioned and arranged to close the switch when the portion 20 is pushed away from the plate 17 by the advanced edge of the paper, for instance, as it is shifted across the plate 17. The switch arm 21 is under spring action in the switch casing so that the means 20 returns to the V-cut and thus positioned to be so acted upon by the next paper edge when inserted beneath the stapling head. The stop means for the paper edge are the flanges 3 and 6 of the base. To accommodate the switch arm 21 for its free movement, the base is provided with the depression area 22.

The stapler has the usual elongated channel means 23, see FIG. 9, with its upright flanges high enough to accommodate the usual pack of staples indicated at 24. Obviously, the staple pack or packs may be much longer than the packs generally employed in stapling machines. Within this channel 23 there is another channel member 25 that has its upright flanges spaced from the upright flanges of the main or outer channel 23 and this spacing is sufficient to allow the staples to slide freely along the groove formed by the channel flanges. The outer sides of the main channel snugly holds a removable bin or storage chamber 26 which allows rows of staple packs to be stacked one upon the other as indicated in FIG. 9.

Within the stapler arm or beam-like main channel 23 there is an elongated rod 27 supported at the ends thereof by the channel ends. Upon this rod is a concentric coiled spring means 28 which is in compression between an end portion of the stapler arm 23 and a slidable feeder block means 29 that has a bore to freely slide along the rod 27. An upstanding finger means 30 is provided to be caught by a portion of a charger band 31. This band has a raised portion 32 at its foward end which is adapted to engage the finger 30 when it is desired to reload the arm with a pack or packs of staples and this is done in a manner well known to this art. The rear end of the charger band has an upstanding finger grip means 33 so that the band can be shifted for reloading the arm when a portion of the overall cover is shifted or removed. Thus, when the slidable cover shown in FIGURES 1-3 is slid rearward, as will be more fully described hereinbelow, the cover engages the upstanding grip means 33 and consequently slides charger band 31 rearward at the same time.

When the charger band 31 is slid completely rearward, or to the left in FIGURE 5, either by the movement of the slidable cover or manually with the cover removed, the first row of staples resting upon charger band 31 is free to drop int-o the groove formed between the channel means 23 and 25, as shown in FIGURE 9, thereby replacing the row of staples that has been consumed. All the other rows of staples in storage chamber 26 will also drop down one row. FIGURE 9 shows how the rows of staples will realine themselves, with charger band 31 slid all the way to the rear.

When charger band 31 is then slid forward, or to the right in FIGURE 5, it will again support all the rows of staples in storage chamber 26 and will disengage upstanding feeder means 30 and allow slidable feeder block means 29 to feed the staples within the groove formed between channel means 23 and 25 forward, or to the right in FIG- URE 5, as the stapler is operated.

The flanges of the main channel are extended at the rear end thereof and provided with alined bores for bearing connection upon the axle means 34. The ends of this axle are supported by the extended bearing means 35, 43 and the base flange 3.

The forward end of the stapler arm 23 is provided with a fixed head 36, that is fixed to the arm or main channel, which has a vertically arranged feed channel 37 through which reciprooates a driver or plunger means 38. This driver forces a staple at the top of the channel 37 through a paper or papers and any other thing to be fastened. The force of this driver means is designed great enough to easily bend the ends of each staple beneath the paper as the staple ends meet the die 18. Since stapling machines are well known, it is believed that the above explanation is fully sufficient for one skilled in this art to understand the invention.

The driver head means 39 which is integral with a drive lever means or arm 40. The rear end of this arm having bearing connection upon the axle 34 by means of the bearing means 41, as shown. Mounted about the axle 34 there is a coiled spring means 42 that constantly urges the bearing 41 to the bearing support means 43 and which support is integral with the base plate. The spring is compressed between the bearing 41 and a partition or wall means 44. This partition has bearing upon the axle 34 and its other end provided with a tension spring which is anchored to the bent arm 46 of the partition and at its lower end provided with a bored boss that is integral with the base plate. This allows the partition to rock along with the elements or parts connected thereto.

The gear box 13 is fixed to the partition 44 and a shaft 45' enters the box at the rear end thereof and another shaft 46 enters the box at the forward end thereof. Gears in this box 13 are intermeshed to reduce the speed of the shaft 46 with respect to shaft 45' to a degree commensurate to the desired rocking action of the drive arm 40. The shaft 46' is keyed to a cam or eccentric means 47 which supports an axle 48 upon which is journalled a pulley-like wheel 49 and this wheel rides on the top edge portion of the drive arm 4%. As the eccentric cam means rotates the drive arm is forced downwardly and then returned by action of a spring 50 which is compressed between the head 3? and the extension means 51.

One side of partition 44 has fixed thereto a spacer block of plastic material 52 and the outer side thereof supports the micro-switch 14. Extending from this switch there is a switch arm 53 adapted to be operated by a cam portion of the eccentric means 4-7. As can be seen in FIG. 10, when the eccentric is rotated, the cam surface 54 rides along the upper end of the switch lever or arm 53 and this cam surface is extended enough in a radially direction to force the switch lever to one side and operate the switch just before the cutaway drop portion 55 is reached.

The shaft 45 is rotated by the elecrtic motor 11. To make the stapling device operate as desired or preferred, a coil type relay means 12 is employed. In FIG. 11, an electric circuit is disclosed to show how the device is electrically operated. The main conductors from a suitable source of electric current, for instance 115 volts and cycles, are indicated at 60 and 61. The conductor 66 leads directly to one side of the relay coil 12 and to one side of the repulsion type motor 11. The conductor 61 leads directly to one electrical side of the micro-switch 14 and also to one side of the micro-switch 15. The other electrical side of the switch 15 leads directly by conductor .4 62 to the other side of the coil of the relay. The other side of the switch 14 leads directly by conductor 63 to the armature arm of the relay which is normally spring urged to the electrically dead stop means thereof. The live side of the relay, by means of conductor 64 leads directly to the other side of the motor 11.

When a sheet of paper or the like is inserted beneath the stapler head so as to shift the switch wire or rod 20, the relay coil is energized and this closes the relay switch to thus start the motor. The switch 14 is normally closed. However, when the cam 54 strikes the switch arm 53, the switch is momentarily opened and this stops the motor. By this time, the paper is removed from the switch arm 20 and the entire device is made inactive.

The stapler is housed in a covering. A main covering 76 is provided for the machine and has the inclined sides 71, 72, 73 and upright side 74 and these sides or walls are integral with the top wall 75. The side Wall 73 may be considered the front wall and the front of the machine. At suitable spaced loci some bosses are provided, as indicated at 76, 77 and 78 and still another at the cutaway corner. These bosses each have a threaded bore to receive their respective screws which pass through the bores in the base 1 as indicated for instance at 7, 8, 9 and 15'.

One side of the cover adjacent the stapler arm, a secondary cover is provided having an elongated side 80, a rear wall 81 and a top integral wall 82. This side wall along its bottom edge is provided with a groove 83 which is adapted to slide along the top edge of the flange 3. A finger hole 84 is included in this wall so that an operators finger can easily shift the slidable cover for the purpose of loading staple packs within the bin 26. The spaced parallel walls or partitions 85 and 86 in the slidable cover engage the side walls of the bin 26 and the partition 86 has one end of a tension spring 87 fixed thereto, and the other end of this spring is fixed to the wall 74 so that when the slidable cover is shifted, it will readily return to its proper normal position when released.

In order to avoid a continuous operation of the machine when the switch 15 is closed and the edge of a paper sheet or sheets are held a little too long against the wire 20, a breaker arm extending from the lever 40 pushes the wire portion 21 so as to open the switch 15 and in this manner the stapler will not again work until the switch wire 20 is again pushed inwardly. This feature may however be not used in the event it is desired to keep the stapler working for making a line of stapling along the forward edge of the sheet of papers. It might be well to state here, that the wire arm 21 is flexible enough so that a cam can fiex it inward to work the switch without affecting its natural return to the original position thereof.

Certain novel features and details of this invention are disclosed herein, and in some cases in considerable detail, in order to make the invention clear in at least one form thereof. However, it is to be clearly understood that the invention, as disclosed, is not necessarily limited to the exact form and details disclosed since it is apparent that various modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as expressed in the claims.

Having thus described our invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. An automatic stapling device comprising:

(a) channel means including a groove for receiving a row of staples,

(b) storage means for storing a plurality of rows of staples in superimposed relationship with respect to each other and also with respect to the row of staples in said groove, the bottom extremity of said storage means being greater in dimension than the size of said staples so that said staples are free to drop out the bottom of said storage means without restraint therefrom,

(c) feeder means for pushing said row of staples in said groove in a forward direction therealong,

(d) charger means separating said row of staples in said groove from the staples in said storage means when said charger means is in a forward position, said charger means when slidably withdrawn in a rearward direction, permitting the bottommost row of staples in said storage means to drop into said groove when said groove is empty of staples,

(e) a driving plunger positioned adjacent the discharge end of said stapling device for impelling staples into the material to be stapled,

(f) electric motor means for activating said driving plunger, and

g) pivotable rocker arm means coupled to said driving plunger, to spring means and to said motor means, said rocker arm rocking when said material is too thick for said motor to be able to force a staple therethrough, thereby enabling said motor to complete its cycle without stalling.

2. An automatic stapling device comprising:

(a) channel means including a groove for receiving a row of staples,

(b) storage means for storing a plurality of rows of staples in superimposed relationship with respect to each other and also with respect to the row of staples in said groove, the bottom extremity of said storage means being greater in dimension than the size of said staples so that said staples are free to drop out the bottom of said storage means without restraint therefrom,

(c) feeder means for pushing said row of staples in said groove in a forward direction therealong,

(d) charger means separating said row of staples in said groove from the staples in said storage means when said charger means is in a forward position, said charger means when slidably withdrawn in a rearward direction, permitting the bottom'most row of staples in said storage means to drop into said groove when said groove is empty or" staples, and said charger means having a slot extending along a major portion thereof,

(e) a driving plunger positioned adjacent the discharge end of said stapling device for impelling staples into the material to be stapled,

(f) electric motor means for activating said driving plunger, and

(g) upstanding finger means extending through said slot in said char er means, said row of stapies not being pushed by said feeder means when said charger means is withdrawn and engages said upstanding finger means.

3. A stapling device as defined in claim it in which said driving plunger inciudes lever arm means which is pivotably coupled to said rocker arm means.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,500,217 3/1950 Taylor. 2,770,805 11/1956 Elzer et a1. 2,877,461 3/ 1959 Oussani. 2,947,002 8/1960 Moore. 3,026,518 3/1962 Oussani. 3,058,117 10/1962 Moore 227-131 2,355,807 8/1944 La Place. 2,409,049 10/ 1946 Lang. 3,266,696 8/ 1966 Tyskiewicz 227 WILLIAM W. DYER, IR., Primary Examiner. GRANVILLE Y. CUSTER, JR., Examiner. 

